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These links are very interesting to read, Dave. I can see myself reading for the next few days. So much info to absorb and learn.

The only place I have found where chaya cuttings have been sold, is from an overseas site. It may not get through to Australia. I have read that scientists are developing a cleaner type of chaya plant that does not need boiling for so long and will be a perfect food for countries where food supplies are scarce.

I've just started to harvest my Hyacinth Beans ( Lablab) while the pods are still green-- another green leaf source, I gather. LINK

I'm still exploring Lablab's culinary utility but the flowers are great -- and the vine takes off to the heavens and beyond. It can also be used as a leguminous ground cover.

"All parts of the hyacinth bean can be eaten. The young beans can be boiled and eaten like other butterbeans, but they are reportedly very "beany" flavored. It is recommended that the dried seeds be boiled in two changes of water before they are eaten due to toxic levels of cyanogenic glucosides which can cause vomiting, difficulty breathing, and convulsions if large amounts are consumed. Young leaves can be eaten raw or in salads, and older leaves can be cooked like turnips or other greens. The flowers are an attractive and tasty addition to tossed salads, or they can be steamed. Tubers are produced that can be boiled or baked. The beans also make bean sprouts that are nutritious.

"Not surprisingly, the handsome clusters of bright purple beans on long stems has value in the cut flower market. For this purpose, the stems are cut when all fruit on a stem is mature enough that the pod is swollen with its developing seeds. The stems last about 10 days in tap water treated with a floral preservative."(LINK)

Great couple of links the idea of drying leaves and storing them is an excellent idea ... I especially like the solar dryer idea in this heat we are having lately it will take no time at all to dry.

Its a shame the authors felt they needed to equate meat as a superior source for protein and micronutrients where it has an input to output ratio that is far less efficient than just eating the plant source. In the case of B12 deficiency mentioned, this can show up in meat eaters as well and B12 is not actually a product of the animal flesh its self.

Though as I said there is some good info in there ....... I have been wanting to try and grow Moringa here but I am not sure if the frosts we get will be too much for it.

I've grown Moringa from seed. I don't much like the taste but it's there if I do change my taste buds.

What you say about efficiency of eating many meats misses the point that as we cannot eat grass when herbivores can. That is a crucial issue about livestock grazing & human nutrition.

As for the nutritional robustness of Vegan diets -- this recent article sums up my POV (LINK)-- inasmuch as I know stuff. It agrees with the Green for Life perspective.

B12 deficiency can be a problem especially for children and, in my nursing experience, chronic alcoholics. However chronic gastritis,pernicious anemia,celiac disease, and diseases such as Lupus can also lead to B12 deficiency.

I don't think I mentioned the word vegan, just the fact that by eating the plant source of the amino acids that make up animal flesh it is more efficient for ratios of water consumption, and other inputs required, with no loss of any key elements of nutrition.

So I don't think I missed any point, as I understand the role of an animal by-product and the integration in a cycle of food production that is why I keep chickens and spent a lot of time looking for a source of cow manure that comes from as clean an animal source as I can.

I agree with any perspective that values compassion, health and sustainability in our nutritional choices that we make. To which end I make the lifestyle choices I do, to lead a life based around those values and what I perceive should be done to uphold them.